Post-anchor.



A. W. SPRAGUiI POST ANCHOR.

APPucATr'oN HLED 1uLY14. 1915.

' 1.167.852 Patented .1.111.11, 1911s.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

BEETJE W. SEEAGUE, QF LA GRANGE, ILLNOIS.

roer-.enenon mensen Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Jan. 11, 191e.

implication led. July 11i, 1915. Seria1No.39,740.

'To all whom t may concern.;

Be it known that l, ARTHUR W. Semoun,"

7a citizen of the United States, residing at Le Grange, in the countyor" Cook and State of illinois, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Post-Anchors, of

' which the following is a specidcation.'

My invention relates to post anchors.

@ne of the objects of my invention "is toprovide a, post anchor whichmay be folded and placed within e'hollow post, or tube and which, whendriven therefrom, after the post has been set in the ground, willautometically untold and extend laterally from the exis of the post,thus presenting resisting surfaces lwhereby to prevent the possibilityoi' the post being pulled upward, or otherwise forced from its seat inthe ground.

Another object of my invention is to provide 'e lock for the anchor,which automatically'becomes eiective when the anchor has become fullyextended and whereby to prevent it from collapsing and being pulled backinto the post by an upward pull on the post, after it has once beendriven therefrom.

@ther and further objects of my invention will become readily apparent,to persons skilled in the art, from a consideration ot the followingdescription when teiten in conjunction with the drawings, wherein Figurel is o. central vertical section of a l hollow post, or tube showing thefolded or collapsed anchor therein before being driven therefrom. Fig. 2is a similar view taken in e plane et right angles to Fig. l. Fig. 3 isa section 'taken on line 8 3 of F ig. l. Fig. #l is a motion taken online fil-4 of Fig 2. Fig. 5 shows a sectional view of the post with theanchor partly driven therefrom. Fig. 6 shows a slightlymodied post withthe anchor entirely driven therefrom and automatically locked. F ig. 7illustrates another form or modification that my invention may take.Fig. 8 shows the anchor partly extended. F ig. 9 is a sectional view 4online 9 9 of Fig. 8. Fig. l0 is a transverse section taken on line 10-1Oof F ig. 7. F ig. ll' is a section taken on line lll-ll of Fig. 7.

ln all the views the same reference char acters are employed .toindicate similar parts.

2G is a hollow post or tube preferably provided with an ettachablepointed end 2l,

telescopically connected in the lower end oi the post, as by rivets V22.VWhile the part or point 2l contributes to easy driving of the post intothe ground it is by no means essential to its operation, for in manyinstances l mayentirely do away with and not use the point. When thepoint 21 is used l prefer to taper the inner portion 23, as at 24 toprovide anchor guides.

The post is preferably provided with oppositely disposed openings 25 and26, at the bottom of the guides, through which the members of the postanchor will pass as will be more fully hereinafter described. V

The anchor consists, preferably, of s. head 27 to which are pivotallyconnected, horns or arms 2S and 29, each of which is prefer.- ablyoutwardly curved, as at 80, the lower points of which substantiallytouch the inner edge of the tube or est. It is now evi-' dent that itthe head 2 and the attached horns 28 and 2-9, be driven down intothepost, as by means of a r d or hammer 32, that the curved ends 30 0,of the members 28 and 29, will enter the p'erforatious 25 and 26, madethrough the wallspf the post, and being curved they will beA projectedoutwardly,'as they progress downwardly into the earth, into positionsshown substantially, as in Fig. 5,. If the ends 30e-30 of the members 28and 29 are opposite the respective perforetions 25 and 26, there will beno difficulty, as a result of the curves, in the ends of the members 25and 26 entering the said perorations, but ii? the said ends of thedevice should be placed at substantial an gles, to that shown in Fig. l,the en ds S30-'30 will impinge upon the inclinedv inner, oppositesurfaces 24-24, of the point 21, and will thereby be guided or turnedinto posi tions so that the points 30-30 will thereby be guided into theperforations, Aor orifices, 25 and 26, made through the walls of thepost, so that in any event the members 28 and 29 will be caused to passthrough the percrations 25 and 26. After the members 28 and 29 have beenextended, substantially as shown in Fig. 5, if great upward strain wereapplied to pull the post up it possibly might be pulled from the ground,the members 28 and 29 possibly collapsing and going back into the post,but to prevent this eiiect l provide an automatic lock for the anchormembers, consisting of link members 3l and 35, pivoted together, as at36, and to each of the members 28 and 29, as et 3'? and 38,respectively. The members 28 and 29 are pivoted to the head 27 byy abolt'l 39 and when they lare in the same longitudinal plane they act astoggles to lock the anchor members. Now looking at Fig. 5, when the head39 is driven down, so that the links 34 and 35 strike the bottom of theperforations 25 and 26the links 34 and 35 will be 'straightened out,substantially as shown in Fig. 6, thereby providing a lock which willautomatically lock the anchor members 28 and 29 and effectively preventthem from' collapsin F igf -1s substantially `the same structure vasthatfshown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, with the exception that instead ofusing the point 21 I may provide an abutment for the-head 27, such as aring 4 0, on the inside of the post near the bottom edge, or I may useany other convenient, equivalent means, to pre- 'in the post is providedwith perforations, substantially the'sam'e as perforations 25 and v26,but without avpoint and in which the -members 27 and 28 are not so muchCurved,

as shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive. VThe point 41, operates upon thelink members 34 and 35, and serves to spread the members 27 and 28." In'each caselthe links 34 andv35 serve as toggles to lock the members 27and 28jagainst possibility of collapsing. f

It is manifest, as will appear to one skilled in the art, that myinvention Ais susceptible of many otherv variations and modificationsaside from and in addition to those which I have specifically y shownand pointed out, within the scope of the appended claims.

Having' described my invention, what I claimis: A 1. In combination witha hollowA post or tube; an anchor, for insertion within. the tube and tobe driven therefrom after the .post has been driven vinto the ground,comtube.

. horns are extended.

2. In combination with a hollow post or tubegan nchor, for insertionwithin the tube and o be driven therefrom, after the post has beendriven int fprising a head; two outwardly curved, pointed arms or horns,pivoted together and two links pivoted together, the free ends whereoflare pivoted to the respective horns to lie in o-the ground, con-i-v thesame'longitudinal plane, `to thus form a toggle lock for the horns when:the latter are extended.

3. In combination with a hollow post or:l

tube; an anchor for insertion within the tube and to be driventherefrom, after the post has been driven into the ground, comprising ahead; means for preventing the head from being driven from the tube; twooutwardly curved, pointed arms, or horns, pivoted to the head and twolinks pivoted together, the

,free endswhereof areppiY Afied to the respective horns, to lie in thesame longitudinal plane, to ferm a toggle 'lock for the horns after thelatter have been driven from the l 4. In combination with a hollow openendedA postv or tube, an anchor, for insertion .within the tube and' tobe driven therefrom after the tube has been placed in the ground,comprising a head', two 'arms or horns pivoted thereto, two linkspivoted together with their free ends pivoted to the respective hornsto' form a toggle lock when the horns are extended, and a groundengaging memvber carried by the anchor at the point of-pivotalconnection between the two links substanti ally as and for the purposevset forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing 'witnesses. s 1

v ARTHUR W. SPRAGUE.

In presence of- STANLEY W. COOK,

MARY T F. i

